Making It Count...

I've got the ice-pack on my hand, bags under my eyes and a goofy grin on my face today. My weekend was spent at Shishu Polli Plus, a women and children's refuge in Mowna, about an hour and a half from Dhaka...

From the invitation letter sent out to prospective volunteers:

In cooperation with Shishu Polli Plus, a village in Mowla, about 2 hours from Dhaka, The Big Bangs will be running a 1-day clinic at the village, handing out t-shirts and basketballs and installing 4 new basketball rims and backboards.

The village is a refuge for women and children, with some 350 children, many of them orphans, living on-site. We expect to cater for about 480 kids during the clinic. The Big Bangs have previously run a kids camp in cooperation with Home for Hope, an orphanage and school in Tongi.

This camp is yet another big step for the Big Bangs, and we cordially invite you to be part of the experience.


It was always going to be an ambitious project; 480 children over a single day, installation of backboards and rims, painting of the court, managing food and water , donating shirts and basketballs and air-pumps...

It's Sunday today, and though completely exhausted, I'm running on both a sense of pride and a sense of acheivement; 30 volunteers, 2 buses, 22 basketballs, 4 rims and backboards, 400 bottles of cola and lemonade, 200 bottles of water, 100 sandwiches, 500 t-shirts, 30 cans of spray-paint, 24 boxes of acrylic paint, 3,000 taka worth of spray paint, 2 "tourist coaches"... the numbers keep piling on...

We accepted a range of volunteers; some 14 from the International School, a handful from the American School, the rest a smattering of expats in various roles rangeing from teachers to doctors...

I was thinking of describing the 2 days; setting up on the 1st day, the kids on the 2nd day, how the Big Bangs Jnr team were so mature and great with the kids, how the place is still buzzing from our visit...

But I can't seem to write anything without getting a little choked up...

I told potential volunteers that our mission for the day was to allow kids to just be kids for a day...

Turns out, Rod and I love being kids for a day too...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dealing with it...

It’s raining today. Sometimes heavily, sometimes just drizzle, but quite constant. I came home this afternoon to more work; our monthly services account was due… and we’ve only been here for 2 days… The gas no longer works… after 1 day… The washing machine… what a nightmare… an hour to fix the tap… The internet service they are offering is awful… and very very expensive. So I asked the building manager, who doesn’t speak English, to refund our deposit and not bother… he then informs me that the 6000 taka we gave has been divided between him and the “house agent”, so he can’t refund it all until the agent gets back to town after Eid… To top it all off, I’m going to have to pull an all-nighter because of all the work I have to do in a very short period of time… And yet, I’m still happy to be here. So far. Update, 9pm. It’s torrential now. The streets here flood after only 5 minutes of rain; the effect of these last 2 hours of rain is starting to worry us… We’ll see what the morning bri...
Read more

Speech to Campbell High Year 10 Graduation...

I've re-written this speech 100 times this week... I struggled with what to tell you, what to impart... let's start with what I won't tell you. I won’t tell you what to do with your life.   While the specifics are always interesting, there is never just one right path or option. I won’t tell you what your profession should be.   What you choose to do in life is never a matter for anyone else to judge or dictate. I won’t tell you what your opinions should be.   Where you end up philosophically is a matter for you and no one else.   I won’t tell you what you should do, what you should think, what you should feel, how you should speak. I won’t tell you to have the next few years of your life figured out.   I certainly didn’t at your age. I won’t tell you to go to university or not, to become a doctor or a mechanic, a teacher or a musician.   I won’t tell you to travel the world or never leave this town. I won’t talk to you about ob...
Read more

Wii...

Almost forgot.  I had dinner at my neighbour's house last night.  He's a great guy named Duane, runs a few fantastic programs around the country, including schools and orphanages.  He's on my softball team, the might Grace Royals, and I teach his kids basketball on Saturdays. He also conveniently lives on the floor above me. Last night he invited me over for chicken parmegiana and apple cobbler, the Bangladeshi version, as well as some NINTENDO WII... Nothing like video games with kids to really brighten your day... Another surreal moment in Dhaka. Blogged with Flock
Read more